<p>A student wants to check the resistance of a resistor by measuring the voltage across it (V) and the resulting current through it (I) and then calculating the resistance R=V/I. He measures four different values of V and the corresponding currents I, as follows:<br /><br />Voltage, V (volts): 11.2 13.4 15.1 17.7<br />Current, I (amps): 4.67 5.46 6.28 7.22<br /><br />A) Calculate the four corresponding values of R (which will come out in ohms). What is his best estimate for R, and what is the random component of its uncertainty (deltaRrandom)?<br /><br />B)The resistor is rated at 2.50 ohms, which does not lie within the range Rbest + or - deltaRrandom, so he considers the possibility that the voltmeter and ammeter suffer some systematic error. The lab technician states that many of the meters in the lab have up to a 2 percent systematic error. Use error propagation to find the possible systematic error in R, and then combine the systematic and random errors to give the total uncertainty. (In both calculations, combine errors in quadrature.) What is his final answer and how does it compare with the given value?</p>
<p>A student wants to check the resistance of a resistor by measuring the voltage across it (V) and the resulting current through it (I) and then calculating the resistance R=V/I. He measures four different values of V and the corresponding currents I, as follows:<br /><br />Voltage, V (volts): 11.2 13.4 15.1 17.7<br />Current, I (amps): 4.67 5.46 6.28 7.22<br /><br />A) Calculate the four corresponding values of R (which will come out in ohms). What is his best estimate for R, and what is the random component of its uncertainty (deltaRrandom)?<br /><br />B)The resistor is rated at 2.50 ohms, which does not lie within the range Rbest + or - deltaRrandom, so he considers the possibility that the voltmeter and ammeter suffer some systematic error. The lab technician states that many of the meters in the lab have up to a 2 percent systematic error. Use error propagation to find the possible systematic error in R, and then combine the systematic and random errors to give the total uncertainty. (In both calculations, combine errors in quadrature.) What is his final answer and how does it compare with the given value?</p>
